The University spent more than $500,000 during its search for University President Lee Bollinger, more than five times the amount spent in the previous presidential search.
 | Bollinger |
University figures released yesterday show that the 10-month search to find Bollinger, a former Dartmouth provost and University law dean, was the most expensive in University history.
The University reported spending $90,600 during the search for former University President James Duderstadt.
Provost J. Bernard Machen said yesterday that the search costs are justified because the Board of Regents was faced with a unique set of circumstances during the search. In addition to initially hiring attorneys to devise a search plan that intended to comply with state open meetings laws, the board was then faced with a lawsuit during the search that forced increased legal expenses.
As a result, the legal bill totaled about $225,000 - almost half of the total expenditures.
"I think anybody that understood what we went through would understand the cost," Machen said. "That was a lot of money, but that was the only way we could conduct the search under the conditions we were facing."
The University spent about $125,000 for legal advice about the search process and more than $100,000 worth of litigation fees in defending itself in a suit brought by three local newspapers, The Detroit News, Detroit Free Press and The Ann Arbor News. This October lawsuit forced the University to conduct most of the presidential search in public.
 | Lehman |
"I think it is truly unfortunate the newspapers in this process, through a series of last-minute legal maneuvering, forced the University to almost double the cost (of the search)," said Law School Dean Jeffrey Lehman, chair of the presidential search advisory committee.
Regent Lawrence Deitch (D-Bloomfield Hills) said the University was committed to conducting a search that followed the state's open meetings laws.
"We had to defend our process," Deitch said. "We've chosen a wonderful president. I wish it had cost less, but it took what it took."
The money to pay the $503,186.39 bill for the 1996 search will not come from students' tuition, Machen said. It will be taken from money the University earns from interest-bearing investments. This money is primarily used for renovations and improvements in University facilities, Machen said.
"Obviously spending $224,000 to defend ourselves against a misguided lawsuit meant we did not have $224,000 to give to our programs and financial aid," Lehman said.
The greatest single expense in the search - $121,465.31 - was paid to Russell Reynolds and Associates, a New York consulting firm that worked with the advisory committee during its search.
This amount includes the $91,666.67 given to consultant Malcolm MacKay. This fee, which is one third of Bollinger's first-year salary, is the standard amount for search consulting work, said Vice President for University Relations Walter Harrison. In addition to the salary, MacKay spent $29,798.64 in supplies and travel expenses.
During the search, the University hired new staff to handle search process activities. The University spent $84,576.51 on staff salaries and $72,260.06 to pay for supplies, travel expenses and equipment costs, including transportation for candidates, advertising supplies, public forums and meetings and meals with candidates.
"We paid the standard fee (for the consultant). He did a very fine job," Harrison said.
"The regents decided to hire staff related to the search. That made a lot of sense. I think it was justified. The public forums gave citizens and alumni a chance to see what they wanted from a president. We've got a wonderful president," he said.
MSA President Fiona Rose said she trusts that the amount spent on the search was necessary.
"I feel confident that we got our money's worth," Rose said. "Having a president is a necessity and so is the presidential search. In the interest of keeping good leadership in the University it comes with the territory."
Harrison said that after adjustments are made for legal and staff fees, the search expenditures are not abnormal or much different from other presidential searches. He said that MSU spent about $200,000 during its presidential search three years ago that resulted in the hiring of M. Peter McPherson.
"Is the most extensive national public university presidential search worth it? I think absolutely," Harrison said. "We certainly got our money's worth."
-Daily Staff Reporter Katie Wang contributed to this report.